A challenger drops out, and a write-in candidate emerges for Whatcom Council District 2
Voters in Whatcom County Council District 2 will see Kelley O’Connor challenging two-term Councilman Todd Donovan’s re-election bid on their Nov. 2 ballot.
But O’Connor has withdrawn from the race and Donovan is facing a write-in bid from a candidate protesting the statewide vaccine mandate for health-care workers and others.
Ballots will be mailed Wednesday, Oct. 13, and must be postmarked — not simply mailed — or placed in ballot drop boxes by 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2.
O’Connor told The Bellingham Herald that her decision to leave the race came too late to have her name removed from the ballot.
“Significant career developments earlier this year changed my course, and I made the decision to withdraw my candidacy for the District 2 seat,” O’Connor said in an email. “The timing of a campaign no longer worked for my family, especially as a single mom.”
She updated her ballot statement to reflect her decision to withdraw, but her name will be on the ballot.
“The Auditor’s Office has the update on file, and I sent it to as many parties as possible to eliminate later confusion as a result of the late withdrawal. My official campaign pages are currently being deleted and removed,” she said.
That leaves Donovan, a political science professor at Western Washington University, challenged only by a write-in effort from anti-vaccine activist Nancy Hill in District 2, which covers the area north of downtown Bellingham and its northern neighborhoods.
Write-in candidate
Hill registered as a write-in candidate with the Whatcom County Auditor’s Office, a step that’s required for write-in votes to count, said Chief Deputy Auditor Stacy Henthorn.
Hill didn’t respond to emails, text messages or phone calls from The Bellingham Herald.
She was interviewed on KGMI radio Aug. 28 and said she was on leave with a religious exemption for COVID vaccination from PeaceHealth, where she has been a cardiac nurse.
In addition, she made repeated false, misleading and unsupported claims about the vaccine, about governmental rules that require vaccination, about treatments against COVID-19 and about counter-measures such as masking.
Seeking third term
Although Donovan has been elected twice to the County Council, he’s only served six years on the board because the term he won in 2015, defeating Bruce Ayers with 55% of the vote, was only two years to accommodate a reorganization of the council from five to seven members.
He topped Amy Glasser in 2017 with 65% of the vote to win his current four-year term.
As a WWU professor, Donovan has written books on political reform and U.S. presidential nominating process.
Over the past six years, Donovan has worked with the council to enact the new Cherry Point zoning rules, fund efforts to reduce Lake Whatcom pollution through a stormwater utility fee, and build the county’s new Crisis Stabilization Center.
He told The Bellingham Herald that the most important issues currently facing the county are supporting the Health Department through the new coronavirus pandemic and wisely budgeting the $44.5 million in economic stimulus funds that Whatcom County is receiving from the federal government for pandemic relief.
“That’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to invest in affordable housing and child care,” Donovan told The Herald.
Both are vitally important to ending homeless and boosting economic growth, he said.
“Employees need housing. Employees need child care. That’s the key to our economic future,” Donovan said.
Setting policy to limit the effects of climate change is another important topic before the council, and he said he would push for hiring a “climate czar” to implement a Climate Action Plan that the council is considering now
On the seven-member council, Donovan is chair of the Natural Resources Committee and is a member of the Planning and Development Committee and the Public Works and Health Committee.
He represents the County Council on the Behavioral Health Advisory Committee, the Northwest Clean Air Agency, and the Whatcom Transportation Authority board of directors.
Campaign contributions
Hill also registered as a candidate with the state Public Disclosure Commission and filed fundraising reports showing contributions of $6,235 through Friday, Oct. 8, including a $1,000 contribution from the Whatcom County Republican Party.
O’Connor had reported $70 in campaign donations before she withdrew from the race.
Donovan lists $13,401 in contributions through Friday, mostly from individual donors. He received $1,000 donations from the Nooksack Indian Tribe, the Washington Teamsters Legislative League, and the IAFF Local 106 Community Action Fund, the Bellingham-Whatcom firefighters union.
Endorsements
Hill doesn’t list endorsements from political parties or others on her Facebook page.
On his campaign website, Donovan lists a series of endorsements, including: the 40th District Democrats and the 42nd District Democrats, the Riveters Collective, Lummi Nation, Nooksack Indian Tribe, NARAL Pro-Choice, Pro-Choice Washington, Alliance for Gun Responsibility, SEIU Healthcare 1199 NW and Local 925, the Teamsters No. 28, AFL-CIO of Whatcom and Skagit Counties, Whatcom County Association of Realtors, Washington Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club.
